Brit reviews have been prety good, I recall. I haven't driven the S60, but I have driven a lot of the rest of the Volvo range and I've no strong complaints about any of them. Note that some of the bigger engined turbo models are *very* fast for what is ostensibly a family car.

as brief as possible....IMHO
s60 - unmatched safety features, priced a bit high for what else is available in the same class, as a previous Volvo owner, I can personally testify that they are quite expensive to fix.

having said that, its a nice looking car, and apparently the turbo versions have got lotsa spunk.

if you want more luxury, look to the Lexus or C-Class Benz, more utility, the TL is hard to beat, for pure sports sedan go look at the BMW 3 series.

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I've had a 2001 S60 2.4T since it first came out and haven't had a lick of trouble even though it's from the 1st model year. Whatever kinks where may have been, I'm sure the later models are even better. They also come in a 4WD and the T5 let alone the S60R will can pretty much blow any Acura out of the water and most likely almost BMW

If your wife preferes to fly under the radar yet have car that kicks ass, the S60 is a great choice.

The T5 won't blow any Acura out of the water, actually the opposite would be true, especially if we're talking the 270hp TL. The S60R does indeed have some nice specs but is extremely costly.

Don't get me wrong Volvo is a great car company, one family I know swears by em and still has some early 90's models still in use today. I don't think you can lose with the S60, there's pretty much no reason to dislike the car. Have her test drive a TL for the heck of it.

Compared to the Volvo and Acura you are looking at less power and more maintenance. Trust me I wanted to buy a BMW and have since I started driving. For what you get, it's not a great value whatsoever. The Japanese have caught up and then some IMHO. The Infiniti G35 is another car worth looking at.

I live in Germany and did a lot of comparison shopping among BMW, Saab, Audi, and Volvo. I can't compare it to the Japanese competition, since the cars aren't sold here in US legal trim.

I fully expected to buy a new BMW during my assignment here, but changed my mind after extensive research and comparison shopping. Too expensive for the power and features available. Options are very expensive. I have owned four BMWs in the past, and may buy another in the future, but for now the Volvo was the way to go for me.

The Audi lost out because the company that sells US Spec Audis here is just a regular out-to-make-as-much-money-as-possible dealership, while the other makes mentioned have special programs selling to US government and military people here.

Saab makes some very nice cars in that price range. I liked the 9-3 Aero fairly well, until I drove the S60 R. Compared to some of the lesser S60 models, though, the Saab is competitive.

One advantage Volvo has over the Saab is that AWD is available if you want it. Saab will be marketing an AWD car in the future called the 9-2 which is to be based on the Subaru WRX. This should be a nice car, but smaller than the S60.

One thing I like about Volvos is their excellent seats. Even the base model S60 seats are very comfortable--especially if you compare them to BMW's.

If you're interested in learning about Volvo owners' experiences, visit http://www.swedespeed.com/. There are discussion forums like this one. Click on "Community", then "FWD & AWD Volvos" for discussion areas pertaining to Volvo's more recent models.

One thing that might be interesting to you is the Overseas Delivery Program. There's discussion of that program on the Swedespeed board as well.